Wednesday, March 11, 2020

The Most Responsible Head Of State On The Planet

Merkel Expects 60-70 Per Cent of Germans to be Infected With Coronavirus Parliament falls silent as German Chancellor drops shocking number. Angela Merkel says she expects around 60-70 per cent of Germans will be infected with the coronavirus, which equates to about 53 million people. Reportedly, the German Parliament fell completely silent when Merkel stated the number. News outlet Bild reported the German Chancellor’s comments, which echoed numbers forecast by Berlin virologist Christian Drosten, who added that such a total could take 2 years or longer to reach. Given the fact that coronavirus has a mortality rate of around 1 per cent, this could equate to over half a million deaths Germany, which has recorded 1,565 coronavirus cases and two deaths so far
Coronavirus: Up to 70% of Germany could become infected - Merkel
60% to 70% of the German population will be infected by the coronavirus, Merkel says






Now, months after reports of an outbreak began, the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has infected nearly 100,000 and killed just over 3,300 people around the world — a rapid spread in which some historians see parallels to deadly historical diseases.............. the Spanish flu pandemic that killed tens of millions around the world during the years between 1918 and 1922. ............ We’re about three months into the coronavirus outbreak, whereas the real devastation of the 1918 flu began about six to seven months in, after the virus started to cause deadly, rapidly-developing bacterial infections and pneumonia deep in patients’ lungs................ political leaders — and to a lesser extent the communities they govern — are making the same mistakes they did in the past................ On March 11, 1918, an Army private in Kansas complained about flu-like symptoms. By that afternoon, there were over 100 other sick soldiers. Within five weeks, that number increased ten-fold and 47 soldiers had died................ COVID-19 is following a very different trajectory than the Spanish flu; there’s no global war raging, but there are fast and easier ways for a higher volume of people to travel quickly across the globe, spreading the virus far from where it began.................. isolation and quarantine have worked best if enacted early enough. Limiting exposure to disease is still among the best ways to limit its spread. The challenge was — and remains — the ability to pinpoint infection quickly, and isolate the patient before they spread it to others............. legislation that, in the face of the Spanish flu, let authorities show up and cart people off to isolation hospitals — a policy that he said hit racial minorities, the poor, and anyone else living in overcrowded areas the hardest................... the only reason the pandemic is called the Spanish flu is because Spain, a neutral country, allowed its newspapers to report about the disease.............. The government relied heavily on the Sedition Act to stamp out news about the pandemic lest it embarrass the state or detract from the war effort, according to Smithsonian Magazine. The result was a media ecosystem full of inaccurate information and propaganda telling the public not to worry, all while cities like Philadelphia turned into ghost towns and entire communities were wiped out.................. Now, having learned seemingly nothing from China’s errors, U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly downplayed, and spread false information about, the outbreak.............. the way authorities have controlled the narrative around the outbreak reveals that their priorities are backwards. Instead of putting the concern for human life and citizens’ welfare first, leaders like Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have focused more on national pride.......... A vaccine won’t be ready for at least a year............... healthcare remains prohibitively expensive to many in the U.S.............. those historical laws that let officials show up and take people into quarantine? Mooney says that by and large, the rich went unaffected.
travel only permitted for work or family emergencies ............ the best thing was for citizens to stay at home, in large part to protect the most fragile members of society. .............. Outside of China, Italy now has the highest number of deaths due to the coronavirus outbreak with 463 — a rise of 97 in just the last 24 hours. There are now over 9,000 confirmed cases, surpassing South Korea ............... a total ban of public gatherings, including all football matches, across the entire country. ............ inmates at 22 Italian prisons rioted on Monday, escaping facilities and kidnapping officers ........... The riots also occurred after Italy’s interior ministry announced severe penalties, three months in prison, for anybody who attempts to flee the lockdown in northern Italy.
A number of airlines are being forced to operate near-empty “ghost flights” after the coronavirus outbreak caused sweeping cancellations and demand for airfare to plummet across the globe. ................ “Passenger demand for air travel has dramatically fallen due to COVID-19 and in some instances we are being forced to fly almost empty planes or lose our valuable slots,” CEO of Virgin Atlantic Shai Weiss told CNBC via email on Tuesday............. major European airports including London Heathrow and Munich are turning into ghost towns with empty check-in counters. ............. the flights are literally just burning jet fuel. ............. the industry could lose more than $113 billion revenue this year alone .

What would happen if the world reacted to climate change like it’s reacting to the coronavirus? What would a fast, coordinated, collective response to climate change look like?
The Extraordinary Decisions Facing Italian Doctors There are now simply too many patients for each one of them to receive adequate care.
Jersey City school district is preparing for potential 3 weeks of closures in wake of coronavirus
Coronavirus Snarls Trans-Pacific Shipping and Ripples Through U.S. Business There are few China-bound vessels and an imbalance in shipping containers, especially the refrigerated ones used for farm products; ‘It’s cutthroat’ ...... The coronavirus epidemic is upending the carefully calibrated logistics of global shipping, as plunging exports from China disrupt the trade of American goods, especially farm products such as fruit and meat destined for Asia.
‘Wildly unprepared’: survey of US nurses highlights coronavirus concerns A northern California nurse criticizes the CDC for delays in testing after she fell ill while caring for a patient with coronavirus
The Worst Outcome If somebody other than Donald Trump were in the White House, the coronavirus crisis would not be unfolding this way...... At every turn, President Trump’s policy regarding coronavirus has unfolded as if guided by one rule: How can I make this crisis worse? ...... The financial markets have plunged into a 2008-style crash, auguring a recession, perhaps a severe one. The Trump administration has had almost two months to think about this crisis. ...... a classic Trump formulation. It seeks to protect America by erecting a wall against the world, without thinking very hard how or whether the wall can work. The disease is already here. The numbers only look low because of our prior failure to provide adequate testing. They will not look low even four days from now. And those infected with the virus can travel from other countries and on other routes.......... There is always something malign in Trump’s incompetence. He has no care or concern for others; he cannot absorb the trouble and suffering of others as real. He monotones his way through words of love and compassion, but those words plainly have no content or meaning for him. The only thing that is real is his squalid vanity. This virus threatens to pierce that vanity, so he denied it as long as he could. What he refuses to acknowledge cannot be real, can it? ....... And even now that he has acknowledged the crisis, he still cannot act, because he does not know what to do. His only goal now is to shove blame onto others. Americans have to face the fact that in the grip of this pandemic, the Oval Office is for all practical purposes as empty as the glazed eyes of the man who spoke from that office tonight.
India suspends most visas to halt coronavirus spread India has 73 confirmed cases of the virus, the health ministry says. This number is expected to grow in coming days, as the results for tests conducted earlier become available........ "It would be near impossible for India to force its citizens into mass quarantine and hospitalise people in numbers like China"..... All schools, colleges and movie theatres in the capital, Delhi, will be shut until 31 March in a bid to help control the spread of the virus ......

"We don't have data to support the theory that the coronavirus won't be as effective in summers"

...... a passenger from Dubai, who was tested at the Mangalore airport and was found to have mild fever, ran away from a government hospital where he was taken for observation.
St. Patrick's Day parades canceled nationally amid coronavirus outbreaks
California governor calls for all public gatherings to be canceled due to coronavirus

‘He’s gonna get us all killed’: sense of unease after Trump coronavirus speech The president began his speech as many leaders do, then reverted to his familiar nationalism and threw in a bit of campaigning ...... He went on to talk of the pathogen as if it was a foreign army or terrorist network. “The virus will not have a chance against us,” he said. “No nation is more prepared or more resilient than the United States.” ...... “The militaristic, nationalistic language of Trump’s speech tonight is striking: a ‘foreign virus,’ keeping out China and Europe.” ..... David Litt, who wrote speeches for Obama, posted: “As a former presidential speechwriter, my careful rhetorical analysis is that he’s gonna get us all killed.”

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